POINTS TO PONDER
From the Field Helge By
I looked back at my editorial from the March 2020 issue of the Charolais Connection written in the middle of February and wow. Who knew what the next 12 months would bring turning the world upside down? As I have said before, we are so fortunate that we are in agriculture and that most of us have been able to continue life with some minimal interruptions. People still must eat, and we still have to be the primary producers to make that happen. One thing that has been amazing is the demand for beef through all of this. The packers have had the upper hand since the slow downs in production due to Covid in the packing plant lines, but through it all, the demand has been strong. The packer profits have been the highest in history for January, at the expense of the feeders.
I was looking at some data from the USA and the last week of January 2021 had the third highest choice boxed beef cutout price in history. The two other higher years were because of small fed cattle slaughters, but this is demand driven, as record beef production is put through the system. Boxed beef prices are at an unprecedented high for this time of year. Beef demand is so spectacular the large kills have been absorbed with ease. When the feeders can start getting the upper hand over the packers, I think the prices for fat cattle and feeder cattle will be extremely positive in the next few years. We have been through scores and scores of bull pens and taken 1,000s and 1,000s of pictures and videos for advertising and sale catalogues for these spring bull sales. There is a great offering of Charolais bulls for both your cows and heifers on offer this spring. There have been a number of sales that have already happened. You can go to our website to see the
averages and highlights and follow the sales as they happen. As we get into more bull sales, if Robbie Chomik, Jon Wright, or I can be of any assistance, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. We are always happy to help in any way we can. Most of the Charolais sale catalogues are on our website and a reminder too, that all our Charolais Banner and Charolais Connection magazines are online for free at charolaisbanner.com. If you want to go back to past issues or show your neighbours past articles, please do. We also try to keep the sale news very current on our homepage, so you can check the latest results, usually within a day of the sale. So here is wishing everyone a great calving season with nice weather and may the moisture conditions this summer be favourable. Until next time, Helge
Three of the six Homozygous Polled bulls heading to the McTavish Farms and Guest 10th Annual Bull Sale March 26
Charla Moore Custom Made 13H DOB 01/28/20 BW 103, 205 DW 773, 365DW 1410 A power house of a bull backed by a top end cow
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Charla Moore North 57H DOB 02/9/20 BW 97, 205 DW 718, 365DW 1377 Long bodied, good haired bull that will sire those top dollar tan steers
Charolais Connection • March 2021
Charla Moore North 103H DOB 03/21/20 BW 92, 205 DW 709, 365DW 1487 A calving ease dream that won’t sacrifice weaning weights
